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Troy: Alright, hello and welcome. The date is January 15th and you’re listening to the 46th episode of Big Rig Banter. Lenay, how are you today?
Lenay: I’m good Troy, how are you?
Troy: I’m doing pretty good. I’m excited to talk about our new, New Year’s resolutions. We mentioned it a little in the last episode and you were trying to give me my own, New Year’s resolution with the house, but…
Lenay: Yeah.
Troy: I think I came up with a way cooler one anyway.
Lenay: Yeah, well I’ve been dying to know if you learned how to do your laundry!
Troy: I did. I did it, what was it, two days ago.
Lenay: Woo!
Troy: But, I did leave it in the dryer for two days, cause I forgot about it.
Lenay: Like, after you dried it?
Troy: Yeah. After.
Lenay: Or was it still wet?
Troy: No.
Lenay: And then it got that dank smell and then you had to redo it? (Laughing)
Troy: No, after it was dried, but I have so much clothes that I like forget about it all the time. I’ve
Lenay: You’re such a diva.
Troy: I’ve too many shirts.
Lenay: I never knew.
Troy: I have three drawers full of t-shirts
Lenay: That’s insane.
Troy: Well, actually four. Cause I have 3 drawers of regular t-shirts and then I have my like sleeping t-shirts.
Lenay: You probably have more clothes than I do. (Laughing)
Troy: Probably! I have a lot. And then I have a whole closet of dress shirts. I have…
Lenay: And one pair of shoes.
Troy: I do have like 2 pairs of shoes. I need to get new shoes. But, anyway. My New Year’s resolution! We were talking a little about it this morning actually.
Lenay: Mhm
Troy: I am gunna learn the guitar, once and for all.
Lenay: You’re gunna learn how to play the guitar?
Troy: Yes! I’ve tried it like 6 times. I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried the book lessons. I’ve taken lessons.
Lenay: Yeah.
Troy: I even bought like this video game where you plug a real guitar in and it teaches you how to play.
Lenay: (Laughing)
Troy: Literally nothing worked, but my friend and I, we’re learning at the same time. We are gunna meet once a week at his house. And my goal is by January of next year, I’m gunna write my first song and be able to play an entire song.
Lenay: That would be awesome.
Troy: Yeah.
Lenay: I think maybe because you’re older and you’re like super dedicated to it that it will go easier this time around. I have faith in you!
Troy: I think I’ll be able to do it. I’m have someone to hold me accountable and that’s my goal. Maybe I’ll write a song for us.
Lenay: That would be awesome.
Troy: A new Big Rig Banter theme song that we can sing together.
Lenay: Yeah. For those of you listening, if you don’t know, Troy actually is the lead singer on the only Big Rig Banter song…
Troy: This is true.
Lenay: That we ever produced. And it’s called Christmas in the Cab. So, if you check out our YouTube channel, you should listen to it. That is, in fact, Troy singing. So, once he learns guitar we’ll have to make up a new song. (Laughing)
Troy: What about you? What is your New Year’s resolution? It’s gotta be different than being nice to me because that’s just like something you should do…
Lenay: No. Yeah…
Troy: All the time at this point.
Lenay: Yeah, I mean, you know it’s so easy to be nice to you because you’re such a great guy.
Troy: True.
Lenay: (Coughing) So, anyway, yes my New Year resolution. So, I guess it’s not really, like, a formal resolution, it’s just something I naturally have started to do, is to pay off my debt. So, my goal is to be debt free by this time next year.
Troy: Nice!
Lenay: And, so far, so good. Yeah, just trying to pay off my debt from years of rambling and I want a new car. I’d like to buy a house here soon.
Troy: I know! Think of how many more trips you can take. Debt-free.
Lenay: I know.
Troy: It’s more money to see the world and stuff.
Lenay: Yeah.
Troy: Which is really cool.
Lenay: So, that’s my goal.
Troy: What about just 2020 as a whole? What are you looking forward to? What’s the one thing you’re excited for? Not just the podcast. I know we’re gunna do some awesome things in the podcast and, you know, grow that, but, personally, what’s the one thing you’re looking forward to for 2020?
Lenay: Well, I don’t know. I guess, it’s kind of counter-whatever to what I just said, but traveling. (Laughing)
Troy: Yeah.
Lenay: I’ve already started planning some trips. But this year I’m definitely cutting back on like the big air travel, so just little weekend trips here and there. So, my girlfriend and I we’re planning a trip to the Finger Lakes, in the spring. So, we’re gunna go out there for a girls weekend. Drink some wine and you know, all that good stuff.
Troy: That sounds really exciting.
Lenay: Yeah. What about you?
Troy: I’ve mentioned it on the podcast before, we just bought a house, and I mean, right now it’s pretty cold out. We have snow on the ground and it’s muddy, so I’m really just excited to have a nice housewarming party in the spring. And to be outside working on the front and backyard. And to really see it. I mean, it’s nice now, but to know that we’re gunna have mulch and flowers.
Lenay: Yeah.
Troy: And have a spot for our dog to run around.
Lenay: You sound like such an old man.
Troy: I know. I’m excited.
Lenay: I’ll get some flowers. Let me dog run around.
Troy: Exactly!
Lenay: (Laughing)
Troy: I’m excited. I mean…
Lenay: Get off my lawn! (Laughing)
Troy: Exactly! It’s my first house! So, I’m excited to take care of it. You know, and just have people over. I’m super excited to grill and have a barbeque. And actually have people, there’s a difference between being able to hang outside than inside.
Lenay: Yeah.
Troy: And just kinda cooped up during the winter and stuff like that.
Lenay: I know. I’m definitely not looking forward to that. But, yeah, so not to be cheesy or anything, but for those of you who have been listening to our podcast, why don’t you tell us about it? Make your New Year resolution to leave us a review? I know we ask this every episode, but if you guys could just get online and let us know what you think, we’re really appreciate it!
Troy: Yeah, and you know, we’ve just jumped into 2020. Lenay and I are both talking about our different plans and what 2020’s gunna hold for both of us, but I think it’s time we talk about what 2020’s gunna hold for the trucking industry. That’s what we’re gunna talk about for our main topic today. What we should expect in 2020 for you truckers and maybe some of the things, some of the changes, and things that you might see.
Lenay: Yeah, so 2019 was definitely a rough year in the trucking industry.
Troy: For sure.
Lenay: I think 2018 was super strong and then 2019 probably wasn’t… didn’t start out like terrible in the beginning, compared to other years in the past. It just seemed worse because 2018 was like, so good.
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Troy: Uh huh.
Lenay: But, the one thing that really started to happen towards the end of the year is that a lot of trucking companies started to close down. We saw it on the news and stuff, but I had no idea until I looked up the numbers just how huge this issue is. So, actually, 795 trucking companies failed in 2019. Which removed 24,000 trucks from the nation’s capacity. I read that in an article in Fox Business. Basically, it happened because everything got so busy in 2018, people were hiring a ton of truck drivers. Everything was booming and then, as that slowed down, people had way too many trucks for the amount of freight. In 2020, we might see more of these closings in the beginning. But, there are people who are saying that we can expect, it will probably level out by the end of this year. Of course, the smaller trucking companies will probably still struggle though. That really stinks. If you check out AllTruckJobs’ YouTube channel, we recently, well actually, just yesterday, released a video that tells drivers what they should do if their trucking company closes. So, if you ever get in that situation, go over and check out that video.
Troy: For sure. And that’s gunna be a really helpful thing. And that number is crazy! 24,000 trucks that were removed from the road.
Lenay: I know.
Troy: That’s just. To think about 24,000 big rigs getting wiped off the roads…
Lenay: I know. Where did they go?
Troy: Yeah, that’s crazy!
Lenay: And what did the drivers do? Some of those articles were insane. Drivers would literally just get an email like, “We’re done. You’re not getting paid. Stop driving.” And like, some of them actually finished their deliveries, others were like stuck in the middle of the country with like no way to get home. Some people don’t really have a home. Like, they live in their truck.
Troy: Yeah.
Lenay: So, it’s just crazy to see what’s going on out there.
Troy: Well, yeah to kinda go off of that. Another big thing you’re gunna probably see are mergers. We’ll probably see two types of mergers. So, basically, there’s gunna be, the first type would be, obviously if a company can’t sustain itself financially. It might merge with a larger company, you know, transferring its drivers and all the other assets over to the company in order for them to remain active. I mean, we see it in any industry.
Lenay: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Troy: That happens. A bigger company will buy up maybe a smaller company that’s having some trouble. We can definitely see that. I mean, it’s not like we’re gunna see two or three trucking companies have this kind of monopoly. But, we’re definitely see some of the smaller ones getting bought out. The other one, which I thought was really interesting, is that you might see when a company merges with another company of a different sector. So, this allows them to say in the business while providing a complimentary service to the company they merged with. Something that comes to mind would be like if Amazon or Target would buy up a trucking company.
Lenay: Right.
Troy: Amazon has these products they need to ship and they’re just gunna buy up one of these trucking companies. Obviously, they have the trucks, they have the transportation there.
Lenay: Right.
Troy: So, that’s something you could see. That’s really interesting. It would let the trucking companies remain active. It would just be more of a complimentary thing for a bigger company, which is really interesting.
Lenay: Yeah. For sure. And it will yet, you know, those smaller companies stay afloat, which obviously in 2019, with how fast things changed, that wasn’t possible. So, hopefully, we will see that level out this year.
Troy: Mhm.
Lenay: Another thing, this happened late in 2019. December 17th everyone should have their ELDs compliant. So, we’ll see what happens from here. You know, this has been, what 3 years, where the government has been talking about ELDs and enforcing people to comply to this mandate. So, far they have been really gracious in giving companies time to get compliant and making exceptions for agriculture and all these different things. So, we’ll see what happens in 2020. So far I’m not seeing articles out there saying that people are being penalized. So, truckers, you’re out there on the road. What are you seeing? Let us know using the hashtag #BigRigBanter. Are you seeing them crackdown on the ELD mandate yet? What’s that looking like out there?
Troy: Yeah, and I know these ELDs can be a pain in the butt, but I think they’re really interesting, especially with a lot of the data. We’re also going to start seeing a data gold rush, so to speak, when it comes to the trucking industry. Obviously, they know your every move, delivery, mile tracked. And, that’s gunna be some valuable data for some people. Like I said, I know these ELDs aren’t the greatest. I know a lot of truckers out there are not big fans of ELDs, but they actually might make like easier for you in the long run. These companies are going to use some of this data to make sure your routes and deliveries go as smooth as possible. They’re really gunna try to find places they can improve. It might be frustrating but we  can definitely see some of this data being used for your advantage, which is obviously a good sign.
Lenay: Yeah, it will definitely be interesting to see what information they can pull from the ELDs. Already they’re seeing, well, I shouldn’t say they are, but it’ll be interesting. The good and the bad that they pull from it. On one side, how they can improve, like planning, and like logistics, and all of that, but on the other side, how the ELDs will actually affect the safety on the road and productivity for drivers and stuff.
Troy: For sure. And just one more technology tidbit to add. So, I don’t expect to see any, you know, transformer robot trucks taking over the world this year.
Lenay: (Laughing). Oh darn!
Troy: But, artificial intelligence and automatic trucks will continue to pop-up on the road. There’s a variety of companies that are pushing out their vehicles. Tesla. That Thor truck we talked about way back in the day. There’s a ton of these companies that are gunna be pushing out these self-driving trucks. So, that’s something you’ll probably see in 2020 and I’m sure there’s gunna be plenty of articles and pictures of these trucks throughout the year.
Lenay: Yeah, for sure. But, as of right now, 2020, we will still need truck drivers. That is the best news, right?
Troy: For sure. And in 2020, we’re gunna be around to provide all the information we can. A whole year of podcasts of Lenay and I.
Lenay: Oh boy. Can’t wait.
Troy: I know.
Lenay: Dude, though. But, speaking of robots. Have you been to the grocery store where they have these crazy robots walking around the grocery store?
Troy: I did! I forget his name. It’s. They have a name. But, they are…
Lenay: He is.
Troy: terrifying.
Lenay: He creeps me out. I like kind of want to run away from him. But, then at the same time, I want to like see if I like push him if he’ll go the opposite direction or if he’ll push back.
Troy: He’ll have lasers pointed at you.
Lenay: (Laughing) Yeah.
Troy: So.
Lenay: Anyways, so anything else to add Troy as far as what they should keep an eye out for 2020 in the trucking industry?
Troy: That’s all I really have. Again, I think it’s important though to remind everyone that Big Rig Banter powered by AllTruckJobs. Which is an online job board. However, you have the chance to sponsor Big Rig Banter. So, be sure to private message us if you’re interested in advertising in 2020.
Lenay: Yeah, this is a brand new thing we’re doing. So, we’re really excited to partner with you guys and get some, you know, information about different trucking companies or even software for truck drivers out there and to get some sponsorships. So, that should be really cool.
Troy: Alright, Lenay. Let’s get out of here. I have some guitar learning to do and you have some debt to pay off. (Laughing)
Lenay: (Laughing) I better stay here and keep talking for a long time, I guess.
Troy: But, once again truckers. I’m your co-host, Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host, Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: And this has been Big Rig Banter.
Music – Thanks for tuning into another edition of Big Rig Banter. For your next job check out AllTruckJobs.com, the premier online source for finding the best driver jobs in the country. Browse hundreds of positions by freight or driver type to get back on the road with confidence. Click subscribe to keep the conversations coming until next time on Big Rig Banter.
